Author Archive | David Bernstein

Here’s a story from the Nov. 10 Chronicle of Higher Education that hasn’t gotten nearly as much attention from the MSM as one might expect. A prominent higher-education researcher says scholars at the Educational Testing Service may have discovered a substitute for race-conscious college-admissions policies back in 1999, but their research project was suppressed — […]

In a closely divided 8-7 en banc opinion (eight Democrat appointees in the majority, six Republican and one Democrat appointees in dissent), the Ninth Circuit reversed an earlier panel ruling and held that the private Kamehameha Schools in Hawaii can prefer people of Native Hawaiin ancestry for admission, which effectively means that no one without […]

A professor suing a host of Jewish organizations, along wth York University, for allegedly conspiring against him and defaming him by accusing him of anti-Semitism, has put out a press release. It states that he is suing the “Israel Lobby,” and asserts that this “Israel Lobby” is composed of several major provinicial Jewish organizations, i.e., […]

Story here.

According to the Inside Higher Education story on the ABA and the Department of Education co-blogger Todd links below, while the DOE staff recommended that the ABA be subject to stringent oversight of its new “diversity” standard, Pruitt ultimately saved the ABA’s diversity standard, pointing out that while the council’s track record on inconsistency is, […]

State Department folk are undoubtedly scratching their heads over what to do about the looney anti-American leader of Venezuela, Hugo Chavez. Here’s a suggestion, only partly tongue-in-cheek: Chavez claims that his brand of populist socialism is superior to Yankee capitalism. Well, let the people vote with their feet. Venezuela has a population of approximately 25 […]

Scott Johnson of Powerline has an interesting post on the controversy; his views are generally consistent with the ones I expressed, though he emphasizes some different points (and is rather harsher on the UM professors who signed the protest leter than I was).

As co-blogger Jonathan reports, nine members of the University of Minnesota Law School faculty have signed a letter criticizing the law school’s decision to hire Professor Delahunty to teach constitutional law as a visiting professor for one semester. Here is a representative excerpt of what they say [I rearranged the ordering of the pargraphs, but […]

Liming Luo is a high school senior who is both a math prodigy and received a perfect 2,400 score on her SATs. New York Magazine asked Katherine Cohen, CEO and founder of IvyWise, a school-admissions consulting company, about her [and other students’] prospects for admission to MIT, the college of her choice. The answer: Her […]

In the most recent issue of Public Opinion Quarterly, an article “Is the Academy a Liberal Hegemony?” by John Zipp and Rudy Fenwick purports to refute “right wing” claims about the ideological profile of professors, in particular work by George Mason economist Daniel Klein and coauthors. In an online interview, they accuse Klein and others […]

I don’t know who’s paying for this service, but my wife just called Israel with it: FREE INTERNATIONAL CALLS You can now call any of 50 countries from the United States, free. Talk as long as you like. You pay only for a call to the access number in Iowa, which is 712-858-8883; if you […]

Oh, that’s why. UPDATE: Commenters, as usual, have gotten bogged down in a general Israelis versus Palestinians debate. What I meant to point out is that the terrorist groups try to exploit any vulnerability on the Israeli side, regardless of what that means for the quality of life of the Palestinians they claim to represent. […]

and my enjoyment was significantly diminished by the fact that every time “Kramer” appeared, it reminded me of Michael Richards’ disgusting racist rant last week. After a while, I just turned it off.

On Friday, the FDA lifted most restrictions on the sale of silicone breast implants, almost fourteen years after FDA chairman David Kessler ordered the implants off the markets, in a decision motivated by politics, not evidence. Indeed, the end of the FDA ban marks the conclusion of what amounted to a massive scams. Political activists, […]

Details in theTimes. This is much less than the plaintiffs were seeking, but approximately $2 billion more than should be spent in the absence of fundamental reforms of the school system. I grew up around many New York City school teachers, and there are fundamental problems with the schools that more money will not address. […]